The Pottsville Maroons were the best-known of Pennsylvania's Anthracite League teams when they jumped to the NFL in 1925. The following year, independent clubs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey formed the Eastern League of Professional Football. A modest affiliation of independent clubs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the Eastern League included All-Lancaster, the Mount Airy Athletic Association, the Clifton Heights Black and Orange, Coaldale Big Green, the Gilberton Catamounts, Mount Carmel Wolverines, and the Bethlehem Bears. In December 1926, Bethlehem guaranteed Pottsville a whopping $4,000 to play them at home, then lost to them in a lopsided defeat.